A new survey found that almost half of people who use medicinal marijuana products have stopped taking traditional medicines. The study was conducted by Brightfield Group and HelloMD (an online community of doctors and cannabis patients).

It focused on cannabidiol or CBD use and found that women were more likely to use CBD than men, and once they started using it, they were more liable to stop taking their traditional medicine. Over 2,400 of HelloMD’s community of 150,000 members participated in the survey.

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Brightfield Group also announced that sales of marijuana-derived CBD are expected to hit $176 million, and hemp-derived CBD will reach $291 million this year.

Cannabidiol is the non-psychoactive part of the marijuana plant, which doesn’t give the users the feeling of being high. CBD is one of the two cannabinoids found in marijuana, and it’s used for its medicinal qualities, as it lacks THC and people can’t get high from taking it.

“CBD, known for the medical relief it provides for a plethora of conditions without the psychoactive effects or ‘high’ caused by THC, makes up a growing part of the cannabis market,” said the Brightfield Group report.

Some of these conditions cited by the company include depression, anxiety, insomnia, and joint pain. In their survey, they found that 55 percent of CBD-only users are women and 42 percent of CBD users have stopped using common over-the-counter drugs like Tylenol and use marijuana instead. Men reported preferring cannabis products with THC.

Furthermore, they found that about 66 percent of CBD users said that CBD products are either “more effective” or “much more effective” in relieving their clinical ailments than traditional medicine, particularly over-the-counter products. Only 3 percent found CBD products to be either ineffective or only slightly effective.

Users said that the pros of using CBD products were medical relief of their conditions without having the “high” effects caused by THC. However, they said the cons included pricing of these products and availability.

Most users prefer marijuana-derived CBD products

CBD can be derived from both hemp and marijuana. There are over 850 brands of marijuana-derived CBD products and 150 hemp-derived products on the market. However, most people can tell the difference, as only 8 percent of the users surveyed said they didn’t know which one they had used.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) classifies all CBD products as illegal, but hemp-derived CBD is available in almost every state (and in Amazon). However, marijuana-derived CBD is usually found only in states with legal medicinal marijuana.

“This confusion is actually helping the producers of these products as consumers are turning to reliable and trusted brands,” said Dr. Perry Solomon, the Chief Medical Officer of HelloMD, according to Forbes.

The survey also identified the three top marijuana-derived brands in the California market: Care by Design, Bloom Farms –which sells CBD oil for vape pens– and Kiva Confections, which sells chocolate products. The most common complaint from the surveyed CBD users was that marijuana-derived CBD products were more expensive than hemp-derived ones.

Intec Pharma reports good results in their Phase 1 study of CBD/THC drug

Most surveyed users preferred vaping to consume CBD, while the second preferred method was by traditional marijuana flower or buds, and the third was edibles. Dr. Solomon said that patients who vape will feel the effects of the CBD much faster than if they use an edible.

He noted that if someone uses CBD for quick relief, vaping is the most efficient method. However, he explained that if someone has insomnia and has trouble falling asleep, then vaping is the best method, but if someone has trouble staying asleep, then an edible is the way to go.

“This landmark survey, in terms of its size and depth, shows the tremendous value that these products have for patients,” said Dr. Solomon. “Hopefully, access for products such as these will help patients all across the country who cannot obtain medication that contains THC.”

CBD has rapidly become a sought-out method to relief pain. PR Newswire reported today that Intec Pharma Ltd announced “encouraging results” from a Phase 1 study of a drug called AP-CBD/THC. The drug was designed to safely deliver CBD and THC and proved to be more effective than Intec Pharma’s Sativex.

AP-CBD/THC seems to have the potential to address some drawbacks of current methods of use and treatment of cannabinoids and cannabis, such as short duration of effect, the variability of exposure, delayed onset, adverse events that correlate with peak levels, and variability of the administered dose.